Mental health nurse at Pilgrim

The first mental health nurse to work directly for the trust running Lincolnshire’s acute hospitals will look after patients at Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital.

Rochelle King (31) has joined Ward 6A, which caters for elderly women patients with complex conditions, including dementia.

She said: “I wanted a new challenge and to further my skills to help patients more.

“I am trained in assisting patients who do become agitated to help manage their aggression.

“I can do this through verbal de-escalation skills and looking at their mental health medications as to what could be causing the agrression. I also offer one-to-one support for patients with dementia.”

Rachelle Cryan, former 6A ward sister and now matron for urgent care at Pilgrim, said: “We felt like we were missing a trick by not having a mental health nurse on the ward and part of the team.

“Rochelle has in-depth knowledge of mental capacity medicine and this particularly relates to those patients with dementia.

“We have a lot of patients with co-existing problems with mental and physical health.

“I am really hoping that this is just the beginning and we can welcome more mental health nurses into our teams and share those skills.

“We’d love to inspire more mental health nurses to get in touch and see if we can create more positions.”